I've read everything pretty thorougly, but I'm still a bit confused as to what the best route to more power would be for my 550 ed. Boxster S. I would seem that a soild 25-30whp (good for about 250whp) can be extracted via intake/headers/ecu, even more with cams, which would put the car on par power wise with a 3.4l motor.

All the talk of conversions I've read has been centered around non-egas Boxsters, which mention that installing a 3.6l would be unreasonably difficult due to the egas 3.6 vs the non egas 986. What would the 3.6l conversion involve in my car? Would it be as simple as installing a 3.4l, or are there other complications that need to be accounted for? I really haven't heard much about it, I've pretty much just seen links to pictures of cars that a high-end tuner firm built.

So far the only convincing reason I've seen to install a 3.4 instead of just tuning the 3.2 is that if you dump the same amount $$ wise into the 3.4 you'll be .2ls worth of hp ahead of the 3.2. $5500=headers, intake, ecu, cams for the 3.2l, which should yield at least 30-35whp gains, more power than a stock 3.4 for less than half the cost.

Does the newer 266hp Boxster S 550ed engine respond any differently to mods than the older 250hp engine?

Basically, it seems to me that given the 3.2l's responsiveness to bolt-ons, it really doesn't make sense to upgrade to a 3.4l engine, and even the 3.6 wouldn't offer THAT much more power, and I can't seem to find any info on the conversion and whether or not it is easy to do in an egas 986. Am I reading everything correctly?

 

Seat time. I'll be willing to bet there's a lot more car left for you to exploit before it requires raising any of the limits. Please don't take this the wrong way. A bone stock Boxster S has limits beyond what 95% of all drivers can exploit (myself included). You'll be surprised at how much performance there is left in the car.

-Paul

 

No offense taken. I'd be an overconfident fool if I didn't readily admit that the Boxster S's limits are certainly higher than mine. The driver is one mod I am working on. Planning a trip the Porsche Driving Experience, and I'm also joining the PCA for this coming spring's events.

I just like to tinker and improve upon my cars, and I don't want to touch the suspension until I do have more seat time. I figure a little more scoot would be readily usable on the street, and not really make the car any more difficult to drive on the track.

 

I'm also curious about putting a 3.6L into an egas car (my 2000 Boxster S). I haven't seen definitive evidence about whether it'll be easier with the egas S, but you'd think it would be.

The consensus on mods seems to be that you need to be willing to do several in concert (intake, headers, chip, exhaust) to achieve any real gains.

 

For us 2.5 liter owners, a 3.4 liter conversion is a big step. The idea in my mind is to improve the low speed drivability such as taking off from a standing start quickly, thus avoiding unanticipated collisions in whatever situation. If you're already up to speed, the 2.5 liter engine seems to do fine. But, I do recall a time that I was traveling up a steep highway grade at 80 mph and an Escalade was approaching me far faster than what my car was capable of pulling away from with our loaded two trunks and two passengers. I think if I were in a 3.4 liter Boxster, I could have pulled away from this guy a lot easier.

 

I've weighed in on this issue before, but we still don't have but one report of a happy 3.6 install. It's far more complicated than the 3.4, and the e-gas really isn't much of an issue. If it was me, I'd go the route of upgrading the 3.2, especially in something as close to rare as any Boxster will be like the 550SE. (and save the original parts) In general Boxsters are just too common (look at 944 prices - there's no bottom!) to worry much about cutting up and personalizing, as I've done to mine. But you paid extra to get an exclusive model, I wouldn't rip it up. Just one guys opinion!

 

It doesn't look like the 2005 Boxster has headers or a better intake so there may still be some improvement in those spaces for new Boxster owners, although I imagine computer ECU tuning won't be as viable especially for those who go with the chrono sport option, which also will prevent you from going to aftermarket springs/struts or so I'm told. It will be interesting to see what the ride height will be for Europe vs. US, if there will be any difference or not, any special sport suspensions or not. I'm hoping Viken has an order guide with prices!